Posts under ‘Business Principles’

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Royal Dutch Shell Plc’s Shell Chemical LP will install a $10 million pollution monitoring and control system at its Norco, Louisiana, chemical plant as part of a settlement over allegations it violated the Clean Air Act, the U.S. Department of Justice said on Monday.

In a statement, the department said Shell Chemical would also pay $350,000 in civil penalties as part of the consent decree.

Royal Dutch Shell’s (RDS.A, RDS.B) Shell Chemical LP will install and operate a $10M pollution monitoring and control system at its Norco, La., chemical plant as part of a settlement over allegations it violated the Clean Air Act, the Department of Justice says.

The pollution controls are estimated to reduce air emissions of volatile organic compounds by ~159 tons/year and cut other harmful air pollutants, including benzene, by 18 tons/year.

Shell Chemical also will pay $350K in civil penalties as part of the consent decree.read more

SINGAPORE – Media OutReach – 12 February 2018 – Today, Oath announces a global deal with Mediacom and Shell to take the energy brand’s “Make the Future” campaign into its next phase. The new phase brings the content of its “On Top of the World” music video to life through a crafted WebGL “Globe” activation, created by Oath’s RYOT Studio global solutions team in collaboration with UNIT9: allowing people to explore the five cleaner energy projects featured within the music video through its interactive design.read more

De Blasio announced last month that the city had filed a lawsuitagainst BP, Chevron, Conoco-Phillips, ExxonMobil and Royal Dutch Shell, claiming their fossil fuels produce 11 percent of the Earth’s global-warming gases.

The suit “seeks to shift the costs of protecting the city from climate-change impacts back onto the companies that have done nearly all they could to create this existential threat.”

Shell to Sea spokesperson Maura Harrington with Garda Officers

A Judicial Review of then Minister Alex White’s decision to grant consent to Shell, 29 December 2015, to operate the Corrib Gas pipeline begins in the High Court on Tuesday, 13 February. The hearing is scheduled to last for four days. Shell to Sea spokesperson Maura Harrington is the sole Applicant in the hearing and is representing herself as a lay litigant. The application is contested by the State as Respondents and Shell as Notice Party in the proceedings.

On 31 December 2015 there was an uncontrolled flaring event at the Corrib Gas installation which resulted in Shell being successfully prosecuted by the EPA.

This release is for information purposes only and Shell to Sea will not be making any further comment other than to quote from their press release following Minister White’s grant of consent where Ms Harrington is quoted as saying ‘The Judicial Review of Alex White’s decision should prove interesting’.

President of MOSOP, Legborsi Pyagbara addressing Ogonis during a protest against Shell’s pipe laying in Ogoniland, August 2017.

The Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP) says resolving the Ogoni problem will require multi-stakeholder discussions involving Shell the Nigerian government and the Ogoni people. President of MOSOP Legborsi Saro Pyagbara made this known yesterday in Boue, Khana Local Government Area of Rivers State.

Addressing a meeting of MOSOP Kingdom Coordinators, Pyagbara who was represented by the organization’s Publicity Secretary, Fegalo Nsuke, said all parties to the conflict including Shell, the Nigerian government and the Ogoni people must meet to resolve the Ogoni conflict which has led to the death of over 4,000 persons and a generation of Ogoni leaders.

Nsuke accused the Nigerian government and Shell of deliberately encouraging conflict in Ogoniland by attempting to resume oil production without resolving the issues raised by the Ogoni people.read more

Printed below is an English translation of information published today by Nederlandse Aardolie Maatschappij BV (NAM), a joint venture between Royal Dutch Shell and ExxonMobil each owning a 50% share in the company responsible for the earthquake prone Groningen Gas Field and consequential potential bill for untold billions in damages.

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SSM approved the Wadden Sea subsidence study

The Dutch State Supervision of Mines (SSM) has approved the follow-up study on subsidence by gas extraction under the Wadden Sea. The SSM Decree underlines the significance of this study and models that enable responsible gas extraction in the Wadden Sea Region.read more

Printed below is an English translation of information published today by Nederlandse Aardolie Maatschappij BV (NAM), a joint venture between Royal Dutch Shell and ExxonMobil each owning a 50% share in the company responsible for the earthquake prone Groningen Gas Field and consequential potential bill for untold billions in damages.

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Clear explanation about Hardenberg gas extraction

The blue NAM infotruck this week, from Tuesday 6 to Thursday 8 February, in Hardenberg and a number of surrounding villages. Residents from this region could go here with their questions about gas extraction and the possible consequences.read more

Printed below is an English translation of information published today by Nederlandse Aardolie Maatschappij BV (NAM), a joint venture between Royal Dutch Shell and ExxonMobil each owning a 50% share in the company responsible for the earthquake prone Groningen Gas Field and consequential potential bill for untold billions in damages.

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NAM pleased with NAM’s new claims protocol

Minister Wiebes of Economic Affairs and Climate presented a new damage protocol together with the region on Wednesday 31 January.

NAM director Gerald Schotman (left) responded with pleasure.

“From now on, the State can resume tackling the damage caused by earthquakes energetically. With this protocol, NAM now definitely stands for the future at a distance from that claim settlement. That was emphatically the wish of the Groningers and also of us as a company. At the same time I continue to emphasise: NAM will also compensate in the future for the damage caused by earthquakes.”

ENDS

The Groningen gas field is a giant natural gas field located near Slochteren in Groningen province in the northeastern part of the Netherlands. Discovered in 1959, it is the largest natural gas field in Europe. read more

Calls for Dutch Parliamentary Inquiry into Groningen Gas Extraction

A parliamentary inquiry into the gas extraction in Groningen is flashing. The request for such an investigation by the opposition parties GroenLinks, SP and the Party for the Animals received insufficient support during a debate with Minister Wiebes (Economic Affairs and Climate, VVD) on Wednesday. In the longer term, there seems to be more enthusiasm for a survey.

‘If this is not a good time for a parliamentary inquiry, what is the moment? Everyone needs to know why things have happened, as they have happened, “said Frank Wassenberg (PvdD). There are many questions in the House about decisions of the previous government, especially about the pace at which gas extraction has been reduced.read more

Shell managed a large force of police officers, which provided security for the company’s personnel and property. The records show that this force included a team of undercover officers, which received training from the security services.

SHELL LENT MATERIAL SUPPORT AND ASSISTANCE TO THE ARMED FORCES

Shell provided the security forces with logistical support and payments as a matter of routine during the 1990s. Former Shell Nigeria chairperson, Brian Anderson explained that this was standard practice in relation to the military:

“In reality, any operational contact with the government requires financial and logistical support from Shell. For example to get representatives of the Department of Petroleum Resources to view an oil spill we often have to provide transport and other amenities. The same applies to military protection.” (emphasis added)read more

Our case against Shell, including witnesses and evidence, was the subject of undercover activity. Witnesses were interviewed by an undercover agent posing as a journalist. The same person also gained access to our evidence under false pretences. Evidence was scrutinized and tampered with during a series of what the police unofficially concluded were targeted burglaries.

Extract below from pages 95, 96 & 97

Shell corporate espionage in the run-up to the Smart trial

Titled Shell directors, the late Sir Peter Holmes, and Sir William Purves were also directors, major shareholders and the spymasters of Hakluyt & Company, a UK corporate espionage firm founded by former senior MI6 officers. Shell used Hakluyt to engage in cloak and dagger operations against its perceived enemies, including Greenpeace, as exposed in a Sunday Times front page lead article.

When Shell first instigated a cloak and dagger operation against us, we had no knowledge of the oil giants long time involvement in the dark arts.

I first mentioned the subject of investigative activity in a letter dated 15 June 1998 that I sent to Dr Chris Fay, the then Chairman & Chief Executive of Shell UK Limited. It was also copied to Shell lawyers.

From paragraph 4 of page 3:

“Shell did retain an investigative specialist in connection with the previous litigation. They made investigations about me going back over a decade.”read more

Shell more than doubled its profits last year thanks to rising oil prices, but has admitted it faces a multibillion-dollar bill for several years to compensate householders affected by earthquakes linked to its gasfield in the Netherlands. The Dutch government said this week that an independent commission will rule on thousands of claims from people affected by tremors caused by a gasfield run by NAM, a joint venture owned 50-50 by Shell and ExxonMobil. Van Beurden said: “We are talking about multibillion-dollar potential bill for years to come because these earthquake will continue to occur unfortunately. FULL ARTICLEread more

The week in which the NAM lost control

NAM experienced a week like a fever dream. Gesteggel about the guarantee, a new damage protocol, leaked secret documents, advice for radical production reduction. It does not get any easy, said CEO Gerald Schotman in December, but as busy as it has never been before. And the position of the NAM is steadily declining.

Maybe it started a week earlier. On Tuesday, January 23, the Court of Appeal in Leeuwarden ruled that the Nederlandse Aardolie Maatschappij should compensate the depreciation of houses by gas extraction, regardless of whether the houses are sold or not and whether there is physical damage. Estimated damage: € 1 billion and possibly more, says Pieter Huitema, the lawyer who assists Groningen homeowners.read more

Minister Wiebes opts for security in sensitive files

Minister Eric Wiebes of Economic Affairs and Climate has chosen a party. The safety of the Groningen population goes beyond economic interests. He is going to halve the gas revenues from the Groningen gas field, even though it undermines the so-called security of supply.

The State Supervision of Mines (SSM) advised Thursday Thursday to reduce gas production to 12 billion cubic meters per year. Last year that was just under 24 billion cubic meters. In 2013, 52 billion cubic meters were won.read more

NAM reacted earlier to the news with the announcement that earthquake damage up to € 18 billion can be paid without problems in the next five years. On television at Jinek, Van Loon said that Shell is ‘legally liable’ anyway. ‘We guarantee and the damage is compensated, regardless of the amount’. In an advertisement in the newspaper, Shell stated that it would be ‘behind NAM and Groningen’. The Leiden professor of corporate law Steef Bartman mentioned during the hearing the statement that Van Loon gave to Jinek ‘richly vague’. “For what, how long, is there a maximum?”

Printed below is an English translation of an article published today by the Dutch Financial Times,Financieele Dagblad

Shell defends Chamber: we guarantee NAM

If the Nederlandse Aardolie Maatschappij (NAM) is unable to pay for the earthquake costs in Groningen, Shell guarantees this. That is what Marjan van Loon, the director of Shell Netherlands, said on Thursday during a hearing in the House of Representatives.

We are convinced that the NAM can pay the damage. If that is not the case, then the bill can go to Shell. ‘ Rolf de Jong of ExxonMobil, who owns the remaining 50% of NAM, added ‘never to let a daughter go bankrupt’.read more

SHELL BLOG

Comments

Bonus Group: It is understandable that a niche now exists in the market for a company similar to BG Group, but for Neptune Energy to set its aim at emulating and becoming like BG is nothing short of horrifying. Why anyone should wish to recreate the inept management, twisted HR policies and rancid technical half truths of BG Group in order to deceive the shareholders is beyond comprehension. If they do, then the Serious Fraud Office should be on the alert. Sammy 'two pools', whose past remit included selling Enterprise Oil to Shell, rather than ENI is made of sterner stuff. That said, his nuclear ambitions did fall somewhat short of those of Kim Yong Un. Let's wish Neptune Energy a long, scandal free future and greater integrity than bungling BG with its House of Cards and flamboyant ineptitude.

Bogus Group: Following the acquisition of Engie the Financial Times headline “Neptune Energy sets aim on being the next BG Group” may have sent a chill through some. To think there could possibly be a rise from the ashes is an alarming prospect
However there was some comfort in the company chairman statement “We have the opportunity to take the time to get it right”.
Hopefully this means their Ethics and Compliance foundation will actually be more than just another policy open to distortion by misconduct.

Bill Campbell: Is the New York City case against Oil Companies justifiable or just hot air?

Many, if not all prestigious US scientific journals estimate largest source of air pollution in US is caused by vehicle emissions. Current estimates that US has some 260 million automobiles and 11 million trucks. It is the daily emissions from these vehicles that are the cause of scientific concern. But anybody visiting Florida, and following a construction truck, will be familiar with black smoke in copious amounts emitting from the vertical exhaust pipe, sometimes it's so bad it can restrict your vision but Florida is not the only state of the US that does not require emission control, there are many more, monitoring for example (like a UK vehicle MOT) is not legally required or carried out.

So perhaps De Blasio should start suing these delinquent states.

In any case, I find the whole matter ludicrous in a country, where their President claims that human activity is not related in any way to global warming and appoints a head of EPA who is also so inclined (a man described by NY Times as an arsonist in the Fire Station) so why does Shell et all not call as witnesses in their defence the current EPA Director, or otherwise why does De Blasio not start by suing those states that allow millions of vehicles to pollute the atmosphere daily.
Bill

Bonus Group: Further to my last post on this blog. Sound Energy have now arranged a slap-up bean feast for their shareholders to be held on 15th February at Grace Hall, Leadenhall Street, London. Drinks at Carriages afterwards. Dress is formal so don't expect too energetic a food fight. Attendees must pay for their own tickets! All will be revealed about the new Coro strategy. You may recall that Sound shareholders will receive Coro shares as a result of the divestment of Sound's Italian assets. The question is whether Sound shareholders will end up in the soup.

Bonus Group: There are rumblings in the ether about Rockhopper Exploration plc having failed to perform Due Diligence with integrity in respect of their purchase of the Italian focused company Mediterranean Oil and Gas (MOG) in 2014, and in particular MOG's asset, the Ombrina Mare oil field.
Following the decision in February 2016 by the Ministry of Economic Development not to award the company a production concession covering the Ombrina Mare field, the company has considered its legal options with regard to obtaining damages and compensation from the Republic of Italy for breaching the Energy Charter Treaty (ECT).
Could this have anything to do with the sudden and unexpected departure of Rockhopper's Chief Operating Officer, one 'Good Time' Fiona MacAuley? Fiona, a Chartered Geologist, started her career with Mobil North Sea Limited in 1985 and has subsequently held key roles in a number of leading oil and gas firms across large mid and small cap E&Ps including BG and Hess.
Fiona is now Chief Executive Officer of Echo Energy plc where Stephen Whyte (also ex BG) is a Non-Executive Director, previously having been Chairman of Sound Energy. Fiona will also become a Non-Executive Director of Saffron Energy plc. It is proposed that Saffron acquires Sound Energy's portfolio of Italian interests and permits through the acquisition by Saffron of Sound Energy Holdings Italy Limited (SEHIL). SEHIL holds all of Sound Energy's Italian oil and gas interests through its own wholly owned subsidiary, Apennine Energy SpA (APN). It is proposed that Saffron will be renamed Coro Energy plc.
This is yet another 'reverse takeover' by the Sound Energy/Echo Energy Team. The share options for the directors are raining on them like confetti. Could there be bonuses in store for the Directors of this association of companies where the paint is never allowed to dry?
Plenty of 'smoke and mirrors' and wool being pulled over the shareholders' eyes in this can of worms.

Bogus Group: No doubt Chevron and partner Serica Energy will have their legal and commercial teams in action. Production on the partner owned Erskine platform has been shut down due to a blockage in the Chrysaor operated Lomond - Everest pipeline export route. Chrysaor purchased the assets from Shell who in turn inherited from BG Group.
Déjà vu springs to mind, as the Chevron partnership’s revenue was affected two years ago, due to a blockage in the same pipeline when BG Group was the operator.
The well-touted “lessons learned” jargon, will no doubt be on the lips of these companies executives as they scurry to apportion blame.
In a previous post Bonus Group stated “BG shrapnel has fragmented in the direction of Tailwind Energy”
This appears to be a similar story as other BG shrapnel (both operations and legal) moved to Chrysaor via the Shell route.
I’m sure the Chrysaor mob will feel comfortable dealing with the legal and commercial issues experienced with BG Group (later Shell), as it will be the same rhetoric for the causal factors. However Chevron and Serica may want to dig a bit deeper into the previous incident, to see how BG Group dealt with this, the transparency of reporting and who was made accountable.

Ornithologist: If it walks like a duck, quacks like a duck, it may well turn out not to be a penguin!

Bonus Group: BG shrapnel has fragmented in the direction of Tailwind Energy (aka Tailspin Energy!). Much hot air from after-burn can be expected from this company - mercurial bunch. In December they announced the acquisition of Shell Expro's interests in Triton Cluster, located in the UK Central North Sea 190km east of Aberdeen. Their stated intention is to further develop the asset. Probably through a three pronged approach: bonus, bonus and more bonus! Will Triton turn-out to be a flounder?

Bill Campbell: End of ammunition supply!
Not sure what the ammunition comment means, are you being positive or negative. If Shell keep supplying the ammo well this website is under no obligation not to use it surely. We would all like the ammo to dry up. It would be pleasant to see the most corrupt organisation in Europe turn the corner, and for example demonstrate daily openness,honesty and integrity instead of serial lies. When I say it's a corrupt organisation I do not infer this characteristic on the worker bees, but it is clearly corrupt from the top to the top, that is in its boardroom, including the non-executives who tend to know what goes on but sit on their hands, anything for an easy life. Highly paid window dressing.

Ammunition: Mr Donovan, Shell seems to have provided you with a huge amount of ammunition over the years. Is there any end in sight?

Royal Dutch and The Law: Hello website, can I suggest that if the Dutch and Itailian Prosecution services are not aware of the Shell /police authority "happenings" in Eire, that they should be and quickly.

Shell Corrib Corruption: Mr D I make the reference of a link with police heroin dealing inquiry on this fact Athlone police station ( Heroin hub ) was the chosen destination for the balance of the Shell alcohol consignment on the instruction of Garda Sub Aqua SUPREMO Liam Grimes so that's drugs and alcohol meeting in the same police station "of all the police stations in all the world you had to walk into mine "...is there a " link. "Time will tell ...we recognise that 99 out of 100 Irish police personnel are amongst the finest in Europe....however ....

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